AS PART OF its Friends Cook series, Canele Bistro, 3219 Glendale Blvd., turns the menu over to 2 young friends. A 6-year-old and an 8-year-old developed special dishes, drinks and menus, and will be on hand to meet, greet, serve, bus and cook for the one-time brunch, Saturday, Marcy 27, 10:00am to 3:00pm.

Sweets: $7.50

Owen's berry bread pudding

Housemade granola (add chocolate and bananas $2.50)

Bowl of berries and banana

Savories: $10.50

Violet's cheesy baked shells

Eggs in a hole

Soft scrambled eggs with herbed cream cheese

Fried egg sandwich with braised leeks, bacon and romesco market soup

Sides: $4.50

House cured or apple smoked bacon

Pan roasted potatoes

Market lettuces with crème frâiche

Just eggs (soft scrambled, omelet, fried)

Ginger scone

Toast: $2.50

Toast and homemade jam (baguette, buckwheat or seeded pullman)

Sips:

Owen's hot chocolate with whipped cream

Violet's pink rhubarb lemonade

Chado teas, LAMILL coffee, espresso, cappuccino, latte

Mimosas

Wine by the glass and bottle

Tomato juice, orange juice

San Pellegrino mineral water, limonata, aranciata

Saturday's brunch profits will be donated to the American Red Cross, as the 2 young chefs specified, to benefit relief efforts in Haiti. No reservations. First come, first served.

March 25, 2010

HERE'S THE SCOOP about the bookstore coming to the old Salt storefront at 3163 Glendale Blvd., from LAist:

The Westside's Alias Books on Sawtelle Boulevard is expanding, opening a second location in Atwater Village, the store announced today. Expected to be open by May 1st, the store will emphasize its collection on film, literature and the arts. "Even in the age of the Kindle there's no substitute for holding a book in your hand and flipping through the pages," said Co-owner Patrick Paeper. Alias Books East will be open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.

The address seems one door off, doesn't it? The neighboring property, 3161 Glendale Blvd., has been undergoing construction lately. Perhaps it's adjoining space and the bookstore will use 3163 as its street number. Stay tuned.

TWO MATINEES have been added to the current run of the American premiere of "Due Partite (Two Rounds)" at Atwater Playhouse, 3191 Casitas Avenue in South Atwater Village. The theater adds 2 afternoon performances, April 11 at 3:00pm and April 18 at 3:00pm, to the run, which is Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm through April 17. General admission ticket is $15, senior or student $10.

The Casitas tower location is adjacent to a pair of cell-phone dead zones in central Atwater Village. CNET says AT&T customers have "no bars" there. As in, they suffer from "failure to establish a data connection" and live in "areas likely to have hand off errors between phones and cell towers."

See, it's not just in your imagination. But if waiting for AT&T to improve things won't cut it, the CNET data shows Sprint leads the way in average signal strength in Atwater Village:

March 20, 2010

POLLS ARE OPEN today, Saturday March 20, 10:00am to 4:00pm, at Christ's Church at Griffith Park, 3852 Edenhurst Ave., for the 2010 Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election.

Eligible to vote: Residents, merchants, students and anyone else age 16 and up with a stake in the neighborhood of Atwater Village. No advance registration required; just show a drivers license or other ID.

"Very seldom does an oppurtunity for a prime Atwater storefront come by. Property is located on busy Glendale Blvvd. With plenty of visibility by foot traffic, and passing cars, this storefront is perfect for a shop/office. Property is located at 3127 Glendale Blvd. In the heart of Atwater Village. Parking is included. Available March 20th . For more information, or to schedule a viewing, please contact John at 213-200-7234."

A READER POINTS to an "odor control" project by the City of LA's Bureau of Engineering (PDF here) designed to quell the smell in South Atwater Village. "This part of Atwater has been smelly," she writes, "kicks up when it's hot. We actually call this place Ass Water Village. It's baaaad. Got a word from our landlord after he bugged the city."

The Hollydale Drive Local Sewer Addition project started in August 2008 and is scheduled to be complete in June 2010. Construction cost: $1,071,180. More from the City:

This project will build approximately 3,100 feet of 8-inch diameter sewer in Hollydale Drive between Glendale Blvd and Silverlake Blvd, parallel to the existing 42-inch diameter North Outfall Sewer (NOS). Approximately 80 house connections along this alignment will be re-connected to the new 8-inch line. Existing 8” sewers adjacent to the new sewer will be retrofitted with trap maintenance holes or will be reconnected to the new sewer.

ON LAST NIGHT's evening news, Los Angeles TV station ABC7 broadcast live from the Tam O'Shanter Inn, 2980 Los Feliz Blvd. While it's easy to forgive hosting one of the city's biggest Irish parties at a Scottish restaurant, it's harder to overlook ABC7's geographical misplacement. The Tam is not in the neighborhood of Los Feliz, as indicated. It's in Atwater Village. Otherwise, revelers, party on!

March 17, 2010

TIPSTER REPORT: "Walked past 3161 Glendale Blvd today. Nancy M. King M.D has gone. Construction taking place inside, was told possibly a book store. Glad that huge horrible sign will be taken down soon! Anyone have any more info?" Indeed, does anyone?

Other scuttlebutt indicates the casket store, a couple of storefronts away at 3153 Glendale Blvd., might be passing on, with the space also interring a bookstore soon. Comment or email.

The gallery, in case, like me, you'd never heard of it, is curated by photographer Greg Cohen to show "emerging local artists working in a variety of mediums" and "raise awareness and funds to benefit the many charities our artists support."

March 15, 2010

SEVERAL REPORTS of police action in Atwater Village this past weekend, March 13 and 14. Witnesses at The Griffin saw 8 police cruisers at Los Feliz and Brunswick. Then, helicopters early Sunday morning and late Sunday evening. Anything to do with that bizarre pillar of sparks on the LA River around 1:00am Sunday? Spring ahead, indeed. More discussion on the Atwater Village forum.

March 12, 2010

GOOD NEWS for folks shopping and dining along Glendale Blvd. in central Atwater Village. You know how sometimes half the boulevard's parking meters are out of order? (The ones that actually display "Fail," not just handwritten "out of order" notes.) You don't have to put money in them. Really. No kidding. Even though last year the City of Los Angeles issued 550,000 tickets for expired meters, City Councilman Tom Labonge assures you:

"If someone says 'I got a ticket,' henceforth, 'from a failed meter,' we want to know about that, because we don't do that."

Well, they do do that, but it turns out you don't have to pay for the ticket. The LA Times clarifies in a quote from Amir Sedadi, assistant general manager of the Transportation Department, that "the policy of the Department of Transportation is not to issue any citations to broken meters."

Of course, your meter may suddenly click to life while you're away. Sedadi said: "Somehow due to vibration, coins being stuck, somebody putting a paper clip [in] it may come out of that state and be acting normal." In that case, pay up.

March 10, 2010

ANOTHER BOUTIQUE along central Atwater Village's main drag calls it quits, this time over lease negotiations. Retail landlords, where are your heads at? Violet Willow, 3127 Glendale Blvd., sent the bad news to customers yesterday:

"I am very sad to tell you that Violet Willow will be closing in Atwater Village. It has been a great 2 years and I am so blessed to have been given the opportunity to know all of you. I feel that you are not only our customers but also our friends.

"We tried to negotiate new lease terms, but unfortunately we could not. We fought a good fight until the end but all negotiations fell through and we had to close our doors suddenly. We are on the search for a great new location and plan to open hopefully in the near future.

CONGRATS TO our neighbors in Eagle Rock and Highland Park for getting on the good end of the nightstick. From LAPD Northeast Captain Bill Murphy:

"Last Friday I sent out a newsletter that described a very serious burglary problem we were experiencing in Eagle Rock and Highland Park. We have been working this problem very hard and on Friday night we arrested one suspect. On Saturday we arrested the second suspect and recovered property taken from some of the burglaries. We are also working the fence that was responsible for selling the stolen property.

"So far we have tied 20 plus crimes to them (burglaries, robberies, and thefts). Should clear up crime in this area."

Any chance this crime-fighting wave will trickle across the freeway into Atwater Village? We've endured some 30 burglaries, robberies and thefts in this neighborhood since the beginning of 2010.

CANDIDATES FOR the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council election March 20 are shaking hands and soliciting votes at Thursday's candidates forum. Check out the candidate statements (PDF file) and come ready with questions. Or just with handshakes. Refreshments will be served: